Labor win could see boost in women MPs

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An election victory for Labor could deliver a record number of women into the Australian Parliament.

The 2001 election set a record for the number of women politicians in Australia - 38 in the House of Representatives and another 22 in the Senate, alongside a total of 164 men.

Labor has 31 women parliamentarians, the Liberal Party 22, the National Party and the Australian Democrats two each, while the Australian Greens, Country Labor the Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) parties have one apiece.

This time around another seven women could enter the lower house, if Labor wins with a five per cent swing.

However, if the Government finds itself back in power by a similar historic swing there will be two fewer women sitting in the lower house.

Many women MPs will be fighting tough campaigns in marginal seats, including the Liberals' Trish Worth, who holds her seat of Adelaide by just 0.6 per cent.

Other Liberal women fighting to hold on to their seats will be Trish Draper (Makin, SA), Teresa Gambaro (Petri, Qld) and Fran Bailey (McEwan, Vic).

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Chris Gallus will not recontest the South Australian seat of Hindmarsh.

Labor's long-serving MP for the safe seat of Prospect in western Sydney, Janice Crosio, has also decided to retire.

In the race for the Senate, the Greens are believed to have a chance at boosting their numbers with high-profile Christine Milne running in Tasmania and Kerry Tucker in the ACT.

But independent Meg Lees might find the going tough in South Australia now that she has broken away from the Australian Democrats and set up the Australian Progressive Alliance.

Dr Ariadne Vromen, from the University of Sydney's government and international relations department, said she expected some shifts in the number of women being elected to parliament from smaller parties such as the Greens.

"There might be more women Green politicians but it might be at the expense of the Democrats," she said.